Mirage Pulse
by ExoZadakh
Summary: Misuse of an ancient structure leads to a duel between two of Square-Enix's latest heroines. Lightning vs. Aqua.


(This story does not necessarily fit with the canon timelines of Final Fantasy XIII and Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, though I may write future stories in this timeline. It should also be noted that it includes my personal interpretation of the Mirage Arena, a world in Birth by Sleep that was never really explained. Restrictions/details for the fight are below.)

Aqua: High level; no D-Link; Rainbow Shower Shoot Lock; Bright Crest Keyblade; normal Reflect and Wheel Roll, double jump, Air Slide, can use counter abilities but Lightning may be able to dodge; Teleport Blast finisher; no defined deck, but powerful moves have limitations, including low Focus regeneration rate; no items

Lightning: Far in development; Omega Weapon gunblade; can use Commando, Ravager, and Medic roles; can only Stagger Aqua with Army of One, which had limited uses; no Techniques except for Summon; no items

**Mirage Pulse**

Lightning placed her gunblade back in its case and turned to examine the large metal door. While exploring Gran Pulse she and her fellow l'Cie had found a concealed tunnel not far from their base camp, and after fighting past countless automata they had now found themselves at what appeared to be a dead-end.  
"Don't see any way in," Sazh commented. "Think we should knock?"  
"Step aside," Fang said, stepping up to the door and looking at the glyphs along its surface. "Let's see…ah, here we go." She jumped up and struck a red glyph near the top, knocking the barrier down, and then walked into the resulting dust cloud, saying, "You guys coming or what?"  
The others followed and looked around the chamber, seeing some kind of computer console along the wall, a large transparent sphere embedded in the ceiling, and a depression in the polished metal floor beneath the sphere. "What is this place?" Lightning wondered aloud. "It looks like it's been sealed up for centuries."  
"That's because it has been," Fang said. "These were all closed up right before Vanille and I became l'Cie. Never thought I'd see one again."  
"Okay, but…what is it?" Hope asked.  
"It's a Mirage Arena," Vanille said. "The fal'Cie built them all across Pulse for anyone who wanted to improve or test their skills. In the Mirage Arena, timelines intersect—you can fight against or alongside people from different dimensions, even alternate versions of yourself."  
"But the humans got scared and sealed them all," Fang said, poking the sphere with her spear. "They thought someone from an alternate dimension would invade our world, and with a war on Cocoon they sure didn't want to worry about another enemy."  
"Right…eliminate the possibility of a two-front war by locking up something your soldiers could train with," Lightning said, walking into the depression. "I don't suppose it still works?"  
"Well, let's find out," Snow said, running a hand over the console.  
The screen instantly flared to life, as did the sphere in the ceiling, and Sazh said, "Hey, careful! You sure you know how to work that thing?"  
Snow shrugged and hit a few buttons, and a beam of light shot down and hit Lightning, making her stumble, and she said, "Snow, what did you do?"  
Before Snow could answer she disappeared, and Fang said, "Looks like you sent her on a mission."

Aqua pulled up to the Mirage Arena and returned her Keyblade to weapon form, dropping onto the landing platform, and then used the warp point and entered the lobby. "It doesn't hurt to be early," she said to herself, and then noticed the beam of light in the center of the room. She looked around but saw no one, and then turned to the Moogle and asked, "Has anyone been here today?"  
"Not a soul, kupo," the Moogle replied. "That light just showed up a few moments before you got here. Seems like the Arena activated itself, kupo."  
"That's strange," Aqua murmured. "I wonder what's going on…" She thought about it for a few more seconds, and then said, "I guess there's only one way to find out."  
She touched the beam of light and warped to the domed battle arena, and upon arrival she found that she was not alone—a woman with pink hair was already in the arena, and when she saw Aqua she drew her weapon and demanded, "Who are you? What's going on?"  
"I'm Aqua. It seems that the Mirage Arena has been programmed with a battle between the two of us," Aqua said. "May I ask what your name is?"  
"…Lightning," the woman replied. "What do you mean battle?"  
"Somebody programmed a duel mission into the console," Aqua said. "It was already like this when I got here…"  
"Snow, you idiot," Lightning sighed. "So you're saying the only way to get back is if one of us kills the other?"  
"Oh no, not kill," Aqua said. "Whoever is defeated will return home safely—I've used the Mirage Arena many times, and they weren't all as successful as I would've liked…"  
Lightning thought for a minute, and then she said, "Okay then…guess I don't really have a choice. Let's get this over with."  
Aqua nodded and readied her Keyblade, and a few seconds later Lightning hurled several Ruin spells at her and rushed in to swing her gunblade. Aqua cartwheeled away and then lashed out with her own weapon, clashing with Lightning, who then tried another attack only to be blocked and repelled by Reflect. Lightning Paradigm Shifted to Ravager and began unloading elemental spells on Aqua, landing several hits until her opponent cast Triple Blizzaga, and then she recovered just in time to dodge an Aero but unfortunately walked into a line of Detonate traps. Aqua glowed with light as she entered the Magic Wish Command Style, something Lightning wasn't prepared for, and the next round of Keyblade attacks went unchallenged until Lightning finally retaliated with Thundaga and Blizzara. A quick shift to Medic and a few healing spells put Lightning back in top condition, and while waiting for her next opportunity she watched Aqua carefully.  
_Why isn't she attacking?_ Lightning wondered. She got her answer when Aqua jumped into the air and fired a ring of multi-colored light blasts, hurling Lightning against the wall. Lightning dodged the next attack and shot a Fire spell, but the attack bounced off as Aqua fired another group of blasts.  
"So she's invincible during this attack," Lightning said as she got back to her feet.  
She did her best to dodge the rest of the blasts and then used Aerora, but Aqua endured and attacked with her Keyblade until she had enough energy to use the finisher of Magic Wish. Lightning managed to avoid most of the damage and unleashed two Fira spells, giving her a chance to heal, and then she ran in to attack. Aqua dodged and healed before taking a hit from the gunblade, and then she leaped into the air and unleashed an Atomos Break, flinging Lightning across the arena. Taking a minute to catch her breath, Aqua wasn't looking when Lightning fired a short at her, cracking her helmet, and after taking a Ruinga she ripped off the damaged headwear and dodged another blast. Lightning swung her blade and made contact, but Aqua used Revenge Blitz to bounce back and bowl over the l'Cie.  
"Huh…not bad," Lightning said, Shifting back to Ravager. "But I'm still going to be the winner." In a flash she shot out and attacked with her gunblade, dealing a powerful blow, and then continued to deal blow after blow until she eventually drove Aqua into the ground and backed off.  
_Wow…her strength is incredible,_ Aqua thought, struggling to her knees.  
Lightning caster Watera on Aqua and said, "Looks like I finally staggered you. In that case…"  
She Shifted to Commando and Launched her foe into the air, following with a barrage of aerial attacks to juggle Aqua for a while, and when they both hit the ground Lightning returned to Ravager and cast Thundaga. Just before the attack hit Aqua lifted her Keyblade and used it to draw the electricity, and then she redirected it and used Thundaga Shot to blast Lightning. That was enough to send Aqua into Thunder Bolt Style, and after using a quick Curaga she used her Magic Hour attack to dive repeatedly at Lightning, creating pillars of light. Lightning blocked a few Keyblade strikes before Aqua overpowered her, and as Lightning took time to heal Aqua powered up even further to Ghost Drive Style.  
"You're quite the warrior," she said. "I'd better keep my guard up."  
Lightning ran up and thrust out her gunblade, but her target turned out to be an afterimage as the real Aqua appeared behind her and attacked a few times before teleporting again and striking several more times. Aqua continued to attack in this way until Lightning used Blitz, hitting her just as she reappeared, and then she repeated the attack twice before Aqua sent Detonate Chasers at her. Lightning was above to use Blitz again when Aqua used Ghost Drive's finisher to slash her multiple times and unleash an energy shockwave, but then Lightning retaliated with a string of attacks ending in Ruinga. More bullets punctured Aqua's armor before Lightning healed herself, and before Aqua could recover Lightning unleashed her Army of One technique to stagger the Keybearer. Lightning's next move was to Launch and juggle her enemy, but Aqua soon returned fire with her Shoot Lock and then healed up before trading a few blows with Lightning. Aqua prepared to use her Teleport Blast finisher, but Lightning interrupted her with Ruin, and Aqua responded by launching a Megaflare. Lightning attacked as Aqua engaged Fire Blazer Style but collided with a Reflect barrier, and after being blasted back she was then assaulted by ice shards that rose from the ground, and Aqua changed to Blade Charge Style. Aqua's slashes were now quite difficult to avoid, but Lightning managed to heal a bit before she had no choice but to block the energy blade, and then she quickly fired a few shots. Aqua did her best to dodge—the extended energy blade made cartwheeling a bit awkward—and then slammed Lightning into the wall and sliced her with Aerial Break. Lightning Blitzed past her and attacked with her weapon in gun mode, but before long Aqua slashed her a few more times, closed the gap, and unleashed the finisher.  
"You can give up if you want," aqua said. "There's no reason to keep fighting and risk permanent injury."  
"I don't think so," Lightning said, summoning a red crystal to her hand. She threw the crystal into the air, jumped up, and slashed it, and the next thing Aqua knew a giant robotic warrior had appeared beside Lightning.  
"Odin," Lightning said, and the warrior lowered his blade and charged at Aqua.  
Odin cut Aqua down and brought lightning bolts down on her, and while he knocked her into the air Lightning complimented the assault with Thundaga. Aqua rolled when she hit the ground and rushed at Odin, hacking away with her Keyblade, but after the next round of attacks she decided to take a different approach. Not a single combatant moved for a time, but when the Eidolon next moved in its attacks did nothing because Aqua activated Shoot Lock. The Rainbow Shower pelted both summon and summoner, and when the attack was over Lightning said, "I've had enough of this. Let's go!"  
Odin planted his sword and transformed into a horse then, and Lightning grabbed the sword, split it in two, and mounted the Eidolon, staring at Aqua with deadly focus. Aqua stepped back and waited for her opponent to make a move, and then lightning bolts fell upon her, knocking her off her feet. Lightning then rushed in and dealt multiple sword slashes, not giving Aqua a chance to recover, and then blasted her with magic and rammed her into the arena ceiling. The assault continued until Odin's energy ran low, and then Lightning jumped into the air and spun rapidly, cutting Aqua again and again until landing the finishing blow of her brutal Zantetsuken. Odin took his sword and departed, and Lightning knelt over Aqua and examined the multiple gashes in her armor.  
"Looks like I win," Lightning said. She stood up and walked away, but before long she heard coughing and turned to see Aqua, getting up using her Keyblade for support.  
"It's not over yet," Aqua said, casting a healing spell and then using Strike Raid. Lightning guarded and swung at Aqua, who ducked and cut her shoulder, and the gunblade's next swing also missed as Aqua flipped over Lightning and slashed at her back. Aqua jumped over a slash and executed a double jump to avoid a bullet, and then she dove down and batted Lightning aside before dashing past her with a running cut.  
_How can she still have so much energy?_ Lightning thought as several balls of light filled the air.  
Aqua teleported behind a ball and kicked it at Lightning, who narrowly dodged, and then repeated the process until all the orbs had been used and Lightning appeared quite injured. The Keybearer sighed heavily before running in to land a finishing blow, but Lightning suddenly lashed out with a ferocious kick that led right into Army of One, and afterwards the two warriors ended up on opposite sides of the arena. Lightning fired a shot, bouncing off of Aqua's barrier, but as soon as the shield went down another bullet flew out and hit Aqua, making her collapse and drop her weapon.  
"Now it's over," Lightning said.

Snow pounded on the console, shouting, "Come on!"  
"Relax, will ya?" Fang said. "She'll probably be back any minute."  
A beam of light shot down from the sphere in the ceiling then, and Lightning instantly rematerialized in the depression, holding a piece of blue armor in her hand. "Lightning! Are you alright?" Snow asked. "I'm so sorry—I had no idea what would happen!"  
"Next time read the manual," Lightning said, walking across the chamber.  
"What's that?" Hope asked, pointing to the armor.  
Lightning slipped it over her forearm and said, "A prize…Snow ended up making me duel some armored warrior, and I managed to get away with this. Seems like it'll heighten magical power…"  
"Nice going," Fang said. "So, what do you say we each go a few rounds and sharpen our skills?"

Aqua sighed as she sat down next to the console. Her armor had repaired itself and she had been healed, but she still wanted a chance to catch her breath before the others arrived. "So what was it, kupo?" the Moogle asked.  
"It was a duel with someone from another universe," she answered. "I wasn't able to win, but at least now I can Dimension Link with her. After we run some missions I think I'll go practice with it."  
"Sounds like a plan, kupo," the Moogle said. "Good luck with your missions, kupo!"  
Her companions were entering the lobby now, so Aqua stood up and went to great them, eager to undergo some training to increase her power.  
_Next time we battle, Lightning…I'll win._


End file.
